Waste can closure operator and support



Oct. 28, 1952 a. F. HAMILTON WASTE CAN CLOSURE OPERATOR AND SUPPORT 2 SHEETPSl-IEET 1 Filed March 14, 1947 INVEN TOR.

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Oct. 28, 1952 a. F. HAMILTON 2,615,563

WASTE CAN CLOSURE OPERATOR AND SUPPORT Filed March 14, 1947 2 smgTs-srmm 2 INVENTOR. Z4 finer/.5 [6590; ra/g,

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made'primarily for use'in'kitchens.

Patented Oct. 28, 1952 UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE "WASTE CAN CLOSURE OPERATOR AND SUPPORT BertisEF. Hamilton, Columbus, Ind.

Application'fMarch 14, 1947, Serial No.'734',743

Y with a pedal-operated lid. As most usually made, the shell of such devices, together with the lid, formsa complete enclosure for the "con- "tainer.

Itlis the object of my invention to improve and simplify a waste can of the type described.

A further object of my invention is to improve the appearance and capacity of 'a waste'can and to facilitate the Withdrawal of the container from the shell.

In carrying out my inventioml form the shell "with side and back walls only,'1eaving the front and top of'the' shell'open. A shelf 'disposedabove the bottom of the back "andsi'de .walls provides a support for the container, which'is received'between the side walls and'mayproject forwardly and upwardly therebeyond. A lid or cover for the container ishingedto thexupper end of'ithe back'wall and operated by aipedal "disposed'beneath' the container supporting shelf. i

.The: accompanying drawings illustrate my invention: Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the complete waste'can; Fig.2 is aside elevation of the waste can with the lid shown in full lines in closed position and'in dottedlines in open position; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the complete can with portions .of'thellidzbrokeniaway; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;.and

'Fig. 5. is an isometric view illustratinga detail of construction. i

The can shown in the drawing embodies a shell 10 and a container 1 I, designated in their respective entireties by the referencenumerals l and H. The shell I0 comprisesa-back wallil2 and opposed side walls 13, all conveniently formed of sheet-metal. As shown, the .side walls l3 are providedat their rear edges with inwardly exwhich may be secured to the bottom l9 as by 1 means of rivets 20.

Extending between the side walls l3 at the front thereof is a sheet-metal stamping designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 22 and including a, horizontal portion 23 forming 2 a supplementary shelf coplanar withthe shelf 16 and cooperating therewith to form a support for the container H. An upwardly projecting flange 24 extends alongthefront and ends of the supplementary shelf 23to retain the container II in place.

A lid 26 is hingedly connected on a horizontal axis on the upper end of the back-walllZ of'the shell, conveniently through the medium of the piano-type hinge 21 shown inFigs. "2 and 3. Such lid is'formed to fit over the open upper'end of the container Hythe front and side wallsof which are desirably offset inwardly'toprovide .a shoulder 28 upon which the'lid 26 may rest.

'For the purpose of operating the lid 26,-it is, provided near the rear endsof its side walls with downwardly projecting arms 30 rigidly securedto the lid and connected respectively by links 3| witha pedal '32 'pivotally mounted in the shell beneath the shelves l6 and 23. The pedal 32, as will be clear from Fig. 4, is desirably formed :from'a length .of round metal rod bent into a general U-shape toprovide an intermediate leg. 33 and sides having outwardly offsetportions 34 Jlocated opposite to and coplanar with each other. The offsets 34 afford a meansby which the pedal may be "pivotally'connectedto the'shell' l0. To this end, the stamping 22 may be provided rat its ends with wings '36 which extend inwardly along the side walls [3 of the shell 10 and which include inwardly offset portions 31 having sectorshaped openings 38 respectively receiving the offset portions 34 on the sides of thepedal '32. For the purpose of securing the stamping 22 in place, the wings 36 may beprovided alon their lower edges withears 40 bent. into a horizontalplane to lie on the flanges. l8.o'f the side walls 13 and to be secured'thereto.byiivets 20. The endsof the rod from which thepedal 32. is

formed are bentoutwardly and are pivotallyreceived inholes inthe lowerendsof the links The. fulcrum-forming ofisetsv 34 I are put in place in the openings 38 before the stamping 22 is placed in the shell Ill.

At its upper end, the container H is provided exteriorly and onoppositesides with brackets 42 which pivotally receive the in-bent ends of a carrying yoke or bail 43. In its normal position, the bail 43 extends generally horizontally and forwardly from the brackets 42, being sup-' ported in such positionagainstthe force. of gravity by a bracket 44 secured to the front wall of the container I I. To provide clearance for the brackets 42 and bail 43, the upper front corners of the side walls iii are relieved. Such relief may be relatively severe, as indicated in Fig. 2, the front edge of each side wall curvin upwardly and rearwardly from a point adjacent the stamping 22 to the upper rear corner of the side wall. To improve appearance, the front edge of the side wall may be bent inwardly on a substantial radius, as indicated at 46 in Fig. 4, and thence rearwardly to provide a flange 41. The flanges 4'1 on the two side walls are desirably parallel with each other and serve to engage the side walls of the container II to locate it properly in a vertical position in which'it will not interfere with movements of the links 3|. At the top of the shell, the inwardly curved portion 46 and the flange 41 are notched, as indicated at 50 in Fig. 3, to provide clearance for the links 3! and arms 30 on the lid 26.

The pedal 32 is so formed that in the assembled can, its intermediate leg 33 projects forwardly beyond the stamping 22 so that an operator, by stepping on the intermediate portion 33, can depress it to rotate the pedal in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 2) thus moving the links 3| upwardly .and raising the lid 26. Desirably, the pedal 32 is. arranged to Swing far enough to move the lid through and beyond the vertical position, whereby the force of gravity acting on the lid will prevent it from returning to its normal closed position. Movement of the lid beyond the dottedline position shown in Fig. 2 is prevented by engagement of the rear portions of the ofisets 34 with the upper edge of the openings 38 in the stampings 22, or by engagement of the intermediate pedal-portion 33 with the floor.

Raising of the lid 26 frees the container H for removal from the shell 10, the bail 43 being employed to so remove the container. It is not necessary in the withdrawal of the container H to move it upwardly for the full height of the shell H]; for after the container has been raised far enough to clear the flange 24 on the stamping 22, it can be withdrawn forwardly from the shell.

. Because the bail 43 and the bail-mounting brackets 42 are located entirely outside the shell when the container is in place therein, their presence does not require any reduction in the size of the container. The fact that the container ll extends upwardly beyond the front and side por- 'cessible.

I claim as my invention; 1. Means for raising the lid of an open-topped container, comprising a pedal operatively connected to said lid and formed of a rod bent into a general U-shape to provide an intermediate foot-receiving leg and side portions, said side portions being bent to provide aligned, outwardly projecting, U-shaped, fulcrum-forming offsets,

" and means located outwardly beyond the unoffset parts of said side portions movably receiv- 4 ing said offsets to permit rocking oi the pedal thereabout.

2. In a device of the type described, a shell having side and back walls and being open at its front and top, a container received in said shell and adapted to be withdrawn therefrom through the open front and top thereof, said container having an open upper end, a lid for closing the upper end of said container, said lid being pivotally supported on said shell adjacent the upper end of the back wall thereof, at least one of the walls of said shell being spaced outwardly from said container, and means for swinging said lid about its axis of pivotal support, said means comprising a lid-swinging link connected to said lid at an eccentric point and extending downwardly through the space between such container and shell-wall, and a pedal movably mounted near the bottom of said shell and operatively connected to the lower end of said link to effect lidswinging movement of said link.

3. In a device of the type described, a shell having side and back walls and being open at its front and top, a container received in said shell and adapted to be withdrawn therefrom through the open front and top thereof, said container having an open upper end, a lid for closing the upper end of said container, said lid being pivotally supported from said shell adjacent the upper end of the back wall thereof, the two side walls of said shell being spaced outwardly from said container, links connected to said lid in front of its axis of pivotal support on the shell and extending downwardly through the spaces between the container and the side walls of the shell, a U-shaped pedal having an intermediate foot-receiving portion and side portions pivoted at intermediate points to said shell, the ends of said side portions being operatively connected to said links whereby depression of said foot-receiving portion will elevate said lid.

4. The invention set forth in claim 3 with the addition that said side walls are provided along their edges with inwardly directed flanges extending toward the container to conceal the links.

BERTIS F. HAMILTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 498,920 Roth June 6, 1893 1,130,774 Tierney Mar. 9, 1915 1,131,774 Davis Mar. 16, 1915 1,213,588 Cohen Jan. 23, 1917 1,703,509 Chandler Feb. 26, 1929 2,102,914 Rienks et a1. Dec. 21, 1937 2,182,432 Hamel Dec. 5, 1939 2,364,843 Frazer Dec. 12, 1944 2,470,271 Steinbacher May 17, 1949 

